The New Indian Express wishes its readers a HYDERABAD  THURSDAY  JANUARY 26, 2023  `9.00  PAGES 18  LATE CITY EDITION PAY DAY, PAY DAY: WOMEN’S PREMIER LEAGUE GETS BIG The Indian cricket board (BCCI) announced on Wednesday that five WPL teams were sold for `4,669.99 crore ADANI BID OF `1,289 CRORE IS THE HIGHEST BOARD GETS RICHER BY `5,650.99 CRORE Having missed out on a chance to buy a men’s team, the Adani Group made the highest bid of `1,289 crore in the auction to secure Ahmedabad as one of the five franchises. Others include Mumbai Indians (`912.99 crore), Delhi Capitals (`810 crore) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (`901 crore). Capri Global (`757 crore) will be based out of Lucknow ■ ■ ■ After adding media rights value — sold for `951 crore — the BCCI has made `5,650.99 crore even before a ball is bowled at the WPL The average cost of a team — `933.99 crore — is 10 times more than the cost of what WNBA teams were sold for A total of 22 games will be played in the inaugural season `447.60cr WAS MUMBAI INDIANS’ BID IN 2008. IT’S `842 CR LESS THAN ADANI’S BUY CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI HC directs govt to hold R-Day function BBC documentary Judge sets aside TS argument of Covid-19, directs A-G to ensure strict adherence of order EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Hyderabad RAJ BHAVAN TO CONDUCT CELEBRATIONS JUSTICE P Madhavi Devi of the Telangana High Court on Wednesday directed the State government to hold the 74th Republic Day celebrations and parade in the location designated by the State by duly following the standard operating procedures (SOPs) listed in the circular issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The court pointed out that the State government cannot declare that it cannot host Republic Day festivities because of the prevalence of Covid-19. Despite the High Court directing the State government to conduct Republic Day celebrations, there is no official communication from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) in this regard. However, Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan has decided to conduct Republic Day celebrations at Raj Bhavan at 7 am, after which she would proceed to Puducherry. The governor will unfurl the National Flag at Raj Bhavan at 7 am, according to a release from Raj Bhavan | P5 FLOOD IMPACT CWC orders joint study of Polavaram backwaters The judge asked Advocate General (A-G) BS Prasad why Telangana was not hosting Republic Day festivities when all other States and Union Territories across the country were fol- E X P R E SS N E WS S E R V I C E @ New Delhi Swami Chinna Jeeyar Kamlesh D Patel Modadugu Vijay Gupta @ Hyderabad 51 IPS OFFICERS RESHUFFLED BY TELANGANA GOVT As many as 91 police officials were transferred, as per the order issued late on Wednesday. Of the total cadre strength of 139 (17 vacancies), a total of 80 IPS officers were reshuffled in a matter of about 20 days. A number of high-profile officials, Gajrao Bhupal, Rema Rajeshwari and V Satyanarayana, received transfer orders PAGE: 7 CONTINUED ON P5 Padmas for Chinna Jeeyar & MM Keeravani EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE THE Central Water Commission (CWC) on Wednesday approved the joint study on the Polavaram backwaters in Telangana. The Polavaram Project Authority (PPA) will conduct the survey. Telangana has been demanding the study as it feared that a large number of areas in Telangana would submerge under the Polavaram project which is being constructed by the Andhra Pradesh government. At a meeting in New Delhi, CWC chairman Kushvinder Vohra gave his approval for the joint survey. Irrigation officials including AP engineer-in-chief Narayana Reddy and Polavaram project chief engineer Sudhakar, Telangana engineer-in-chief Nagendra Rao and CM’s Officer on Special Duty (Irrigation) Sridhar Rao Deshpande and Kothagudem chief engineer Srinivas Reddy (Telangana) and Odisha engineer-in-chief Asutosh Mishra attended the meeting. A Telangana official said the State had been pushing for a backwater study under the full reservoir level (FRL) of the Polavaram project. As CWC officials wanted proof of the claims that areas in Telangana would submerge due to the project, State authorities provided the required documents and insisted on a CONTINUED ON P7 study . lowing the SOPs issued by the MHA. Furthermore, the judge asked the A-G to submit her orders to the State government for strict adherence. Gadi Praveen Kumar, Deputy Solicitor General of India, representing the Union government, said the office memorandum dated January 18 was only regarding Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi while the MHA issued a release regarding celebrations in States and Union Territories across the country He added that the A-G Pras. ad’s argument relied on the premise that the pandemic was still prevalent but wasn’t able to produce before the court any guidelines issued by the State government or any SOPs to be followed in any official function due to the Covid-19 situation. B Ramakrishna Hanumantha MM Keeravaani Reddy Rao Pasupuleti from AP FORMER Uttar Pradesh chief minister late Mulayam Singh Yadav, ex-foreign minister in the UPA government S M Krishna, tabla maestro Zakir Hussain and ORS pioneer Dilip Mahalanabis were among the luminaries selected for the country’s second highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan. A total of 106 Padma awards were announced on Wednesday — six Padma Vibhushan, nine Padma Bhushan and 91 Padma Shri. No one has been named for the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award. Eminent architect B V Doshi (posthumous), industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, educationist and social worker Sudha Murty, actress Raveena Ravi Tandon and noted singers Vani Jairam and Suman Kalyanpur were also on the list. Five from Telangana — Swami Chinna Jeeyar, Kamlesh D Patel, Modadugu Vijay Gupta, B Ramakrishna Reddy and Hanumantha Rao Pasupuleti — also featured in the list of awardees. P7 STATE GOVT TO AUDIT FIRE SAFETY GUIDELINES IN HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Hyderabad FOLLOWING the recent fire mishap at a multi-storeyed commercial complex in Nallagutta, Minister’s Road in Secunderabad, the State government on Wednesday announced that it will conduct fire safety audits of high-rise buildings — such as commercial complexes, hospitals and educational institutions — in cities across the State on regular intervals. A high-level meeting to review the measures to be taken against building owners who don’t adhere to fire safety guidelines in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits was held at the BRKR Bhavan in Hyderabad. Municipal Ad- ministration and Urban Development (MAUD) Minister KT Rama Rao, Home Minister Mahmood Ali, Animal Husbandry Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav, Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari and Telangana Director General of Police (DGP) Anjani Kumar took part in the meeting along with senior officials from different government departments. The ministers suggested that the new measures shouldn’t cause inconvenience to people and added that existing laws could be amended, if required, to prevent fire accidents. They also recommended employing the use of drones and robotics technology to maintain fire safety in Hyderabad. Fire dept staffers to be trained A list of proposed measures will be compiled based on the best practices adopted by cities in India and across the world to tackle recurring fire accidents. Telangana State Disaster Response and Fire Services staffers will be given training as well. series row snowballs ing of the documentary adding , that no permission has been A day after the Jawaharlal Ne- given for it. It also warned the hru University, University of students of strict disciplinary Hyderabad and a few campuses action if they fail to adhere to in Kerala screened the contro- the directives. Throughout the versial BBC film on the 2002 day, there was heavy deployGodhra riots, Left-afiliated stu- ment of police in and around dent groups of Delhi’s Jamia the university area. The police Milia Islamia tried to blocked around 1 km show the film but the AK Antony’s stretch of the road son quits administration and pofrom both sides using lice thwar ted the party posts anti-riot vehicles and move. Congress veteran buses. Hours before the A K Antony’s son Po l i c e h a d a l s o scheduled screening, Anil quit all party placed water cannons Delhi Police detained in front of the varsity posts citing over a dozen students. ‘intolerant calls’ gate to disperse protesDeputy Commissioner tors in case of any and ‘abuses’ of Police (southeast) ruckus, but it was not from partymen Esha Pandey said the used as the protest was over his tweet Jamia University ad- against the BBC tackled immediately . ministration had inMeanwhile, SFI said documentary for med police that it will screen the docusome students were mentary at Kolkata’s creating ruckus on the streets Presidency University on Janufollowing which 13 students ary 27 at an open air field. A were detained, four of them SFI separate group of students said members, around 4 pm to en- they will screen the documensure peace in the area. tary on February 1 at the unverThe action came after the uni- sity A similar event will be or. versity administration had g anised at the Jadavpur asked students not to partici- University by the All India Stupate in any gathering or screen- dents’ Association. UJ WA L JA L A L I @ New Delhi UoH MGMT AWAITS REPORT ON SCREENING OF BBC DOCUMENTARY | P2 Sania gets final call Playing her last Grand Slam tournament, Sania Mirza has a chance to win her seventh major title by reaching the Australian Open mixed doubles final with compatriot Rohan Bopanna on Wednesday The unseeded Indian pair knocked out third seeds Desirae Krawczyk and Neal Skupski 7-6(5) 6-7(5) 10-6 in the semifinal in one hour 52 minutes “I’m not a crier but I’m almost there right now, I feel the love for the last 18 years I have been coming here. It feels like home for me,” Sania said Sania-Bopanna will meet Luisa Stefani and Rafael Matos of Brazil, who beat Olivia Gadecki and Marc Polmans 4-6, 6-4, 11-9